ERIDGE STREAM FISH HABITAT IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Following concerns raised by RFA member clubs Crowborough & District Anglers Association and Dorset Arms Angling Club with the Environment Agency, together with local MP’s Nus Ghani and Greg Clark who are both DAAC vice-presidents, a fish habitat improvement project took place in October on the DAAC’s stretch of the Eridge Stream.  The stream, a tributary of the Upper Medway, rises in the Rotherfield/Crowborough area and enters the Upper Medway near Ashurst on the Kent & Sussex border.

The project was undertaken as a follow up to a report by the Wild Trout Trust commissioned by the Environment Agency after concerns were raised.  The Wild Trout Trust headed up the project with help from DAAC volunteers and the work took four days to complete.  The project was funded by the Environment Agency and entailed the installation of 100 tonnes of High Weald iron stone gravel at four proposed spawning bed sites.

It is hoped that fish such as Trout, Dace and Chub will now benefit from the project, particularly Trout who’s numbers have reduced in recent years. from Dorset Arms